BACKGROUND: An Associated Press story by Josef Herbert
with the headline cited above spends 15 paragraphs explaining
how a U.S. Geological Survey study shows how oil exploration in
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would threaten wildlife there.
It is only in the 16th and 17th paragraphs, at the end of the
story, that the AP publishes the accurate conclusions drawn by
the study, saying:

"In a memo to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, the director
of the U.S. Geological Survey, Charles Groat, said he wanted to
'clarify certain aspects' of the report, including that the research
also showed 'with mitigation the effect of human developmentcould
be minimal' where most wildlife are concerned.

"But Groat acknowledged that adverse risks to the Porcupine
caribou 'would depend on the type of development and where the
development occurred.'" 1

TEN SECOND RESPONSE: The study by the U.S. Geological
Survey is entirely consistent with what proponents of exploration
have said all along. The AP story is a distortion of the report.

THIRTY SECOND RESPONSE: When reports by government agencies
present a balance of alternative actions and results, it is wrong
for reporters to sensationalize certain aspects to suit what are
apparently preconceived notions and viewsthen throw in at the
end a Gilda Radneresque, "Never mind." It should be
remembered that even Bill Clinton's own energy department found
oil exploration could be environmentally-friendly and opened more
of Alaska's North Slope to drilling.

DISCUSSION: To learn more about what the Clinton administration
said and did regarding oil exploration, and pick up useful quotes,
read Ten Second Response "Bill Clinton's Department
of Energy on Record: Oil and Gas Exploration is Environmentally-Friendly"
by Tom Randall at: http://www.nationalcenter.org/TSR21302.html.

by Tom Randall, Director
John P. McGovern, MD Center for Environmental and Regulatory Affairs
The National Center for Public Policy Research